Allentown Human Relations Commission
February 9, 2011
Present: Janet Ney, Liz Bradbury, Robin Riley Casey, Debbie Rozear, Tawanna Whitehead, Ismael Arcelay, Debra Lamb, Walter Felton, Allyson Diane Hamm
Excused: Adrian Shanker, Ed Diaz
Guests: Susan Levine, Captain George Medero from Police Department, Olga Torres from Latino Leadership Alliance
The meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM
Ideas for the Voice of the Community were discussed and the following list was developed for future meetings:
1. ACLU, repeal of the English only ordinance, and to enhance immigrants in Allentown
2. Alicia Ruez Orbin who is working with children in Allentown. Following the Harlem program. Allentown Promise Neighborhood.
3. Margie Maldanado, Casa Guadalupe
4. Lupe Pearce, Hispanic American Organization
5. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Members chose the following guests to invite to future meetings; ACLU, Alicia and Casa in this order
Janet Ney reported that she will be meeting with City Council on March 2, at 6:30 p.m. All commissioners are invited to attend. She will discuss things we have done in the past, talking to people and groups in the community, and investigations that we have embarked upon. She will invite them to our meetings and ask for their help in recruiting new Commissioners.
Susan Levine introduced herself and gave her background in the AHRC back in 70's. She was one of four people doing investigations for the city. There were 15 members on the commission. Then she worked for the National Revitalization Agency for Historic District. She founded Neighborhood Housing Services and now works for Liberty Resources.
Two applications for the Commission are pending: Monica Chibber and Shalon Easterling. Leslie Suhr submitted her application twice; Ismael will hand deliver an application form to her. Susan Levine is interested in applying.
We still need input on the website. New Commission letterhead was circulated for all to see and correct any mistakes before the letterhead gets printed again.
English only ordinance: years ago there was an ordinance that was passed that English only be written. There is interest in the counsel to repeal this ordinance.
Ash Wednesday is our next meeting. Does anyone want us to change the date. Upon consensus, we will leave the meeting date as is.
Janet spoke about Mayor Pawlowski appearing on Hola each month. As mentioned last month, this would be a good opportunity for the commission to make our voice heard and Janet asked Ismael to set up for Ed Diaz to appear with mayor on a near future show. An idea was presented by Liz to have a commissioner appear monthly and answer questions on a call-in show. Commissioners could speak of any issues that may arise.
Ismael said that the state commission has opened an office in Bethlehem. He reported that he did not receive any complaints since our last meeting.
Janet was interviewed by WHYY about the Commission and the Ordinance.
Student report from Charlotte Apiolaza, Louis E. Dieruff Human Relations Representative: Charlotte could not be present this evening. Thank you Charlotte for taking the initiative to send in this report:
Ms. Bocian and I discussed various different topics. Even with all the snow days, students seem to be working at their best. Misbehavior seems to be going down, although it WAS the end of aquarter. Usually kids start to pay attention to their grades more during this time.
Ms. Bocian is excited to announce that there will be a meeting on Feb. 15 called Destination Graduation. It is to focus getting as many kids as possible to graduate High School. Its made up ofeternallythe community. 4 out of 10 kids drop out in Allentown. She wishes to reduce those numbers. Anyone can come and share ideas and spread the word. It will take place at the Media Center at 6 PM.
The students are reactingpositivelyto the new changes that areoccurringin the school. They are welcoming her (Ms. Bocian) with open arms, almost nohesitationon the students part. (Although they DO miss the old Principal!)
We ARE getting a new OperationAssistantPrincipal. He is at the current moment getting set up in our school. having just transferred from Mosers. Everybody is excited to see what new things and ideas he could bring to our school. (Spelling??)
Besides that, not much has been going on in school. We have gotten new Security Guards. They being more aware of our safety and ensuring it. The school in itself has seen a lot of changes, but the students are taking it day by day.
Olga Torres, secretary of Latino Alliance visited the Commission. She said the organization focuses on offering scholarships to students. Last year there were over 20 scholarships. It is a valley wide organization that allows members to voice concerns and to serve their community.
The Commission asked what kinds of things(issues, complaints) do you hear about?
The Alliance wants to see more representation state wide level, for Latinos to be understood more. Latinos need recreation for the youth and centers for seniors. Seniors feel that they are not welcome at existing senior centers. They would like different food, bi-lingual staff, music and other activities that are consistent with Latino culture.
They feel that they are disrespected if they go to public welfare for help.
In schools, there is a lot of gang activity. Parents are keeping kids from school because of bullying.
Do you do anything to encourage Latinos to vote? Yes, there is a big campaign for voting: bi-lingual, brochures, highly promoted. There was an increase during the national election.
The Alliance has a public meeting on the third Tuesday of the month, at the Lehigh County Government building, from 9:30 to 10 a.m. Their website is www.llalv.org
In response to questions, Ms. Torres said that police officer recruiting has been pursued through the Alliance.
Another concern is that Latinos are not being promoted at their workplaces.
Commissioners talked about having a workshop for businesses in the future.
Janet said Liz and Debbie did a great job on the first investigation and the second one was unfounded. Liz has put together ideas for how we would handle complaints.
To resolve the first case, letters were mailed to the complainant and the respondent; we are waiting for the signed letters to be returned.
Debra reported for the School District:
The School District is offering busing for students who live more then 2.2 miles from school. This just began within the last month. It is just for high school students to provide safe passage to their homes. 300 students are eligible. They are bused to their home elementary school.
Safety Task force meetings are attended by parents. It is a pretty angry meeting about things that have happened to their children. They are hearing from a lot of white parents saying that their children are being targeted. An anti-bullying initiative is moving forward. Several surveys are underway.
With respect to concerns about security guards mentioned last month, Ms. Lamb reported that professional development is being bumped up now. The guards are being very carefully commissioned. There is a command center.
Adrian mentioned a new report that shows that 1 out of every 2 transgendered person experiences discrimination.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:45 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Rozear
Secretary